


Man After Midnight

by MistressofYaoi



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Protective Victor Zsasz, mention of abusive relationship, workplace bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 01:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20165836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressofYaoi/pseuds/MistressofYaoi
Summary: Edward Nygma is the weird riddle loving forensic scientist and resident verbal punching bag of the GCPD until he finally stands up for himself and leaves everyone shocked with a small revelation to his work colleagues that ends in even more surprises for everyone when his long term boyfriend comes into work to check up on Ed.





	Man After Midnight

It had not been a good day for Edward Nygma at the GCPD. He was really getting sick and tired of the under breath weirdo comments from his co-workers. Things just got worse for him when Tom Dougherty started working at the precinct. The idiot was at Kristin’s side as soon as the man found out she was recently single since her now ex-boyfriend had been arrested. Which in Ed’s eyes made him nothing more than a rebound he really hoped Kristen would drop sooner or later. He could not understand why such an intelligent woman kept dating such idiotic men. He could only come to one conclusion on the subject and it was most certainly not for their minds. She obviously got something she enjoyed from them and even though he could not understand her taste in such neanderthals of men, it was her choice who she chose to date just like everyone else. Still, no one she dated could be worse than Arnold Flass, right?

He really had hoped things would be easier at work with Arnold Flass gone, he had been one of the worst of Ed’s tormentors. That being said he had left Ed alone for a while when he turned his attention to making Jim Gordon’s work a little harder for the man. A part of Ed felt bad for what Flass was putting Jim through, but there was another that was kind of relieved that the man had found another victim and had begun to leave Edward alone. It gave him more time to talk to someone at work whose company he actually enjoyed. Miss Kringle really was a breath of fresh air amongst the idiots of the GCPD and seeing her always was the highlight of his workday. That’s why it had hurt when he had heard her of all people refer to him as weird when she thought he was not listening.

Those hurtful comments, however, did not make him lose respect for his work colleague and he still wanted to try and be a good friend to her. He was embarrassed at first when he walked in on a very private discussion that was most definitely the tail end of an argument between her and Tom that morning, but once the other man left and he noticed the bruises on her arm, he just saw red. 

“Are those bruises? Did Tom do those to you?” he knew it was an intrusive question, but it just slipped out because the sight just broke his heart.

“It was my fault, I should not have made him angry” and she was making excuses for him hurting her? This was worse than it had first looked. Why was someone like Miss Kringle letting such a horrible man treat her so badly? She really had the worst taste in men.

“Miss Kringle he can not…” he really did hate how feeble his voice sounded when at work.

“I’ll stop you right there Mr Nygma.” she let out an annoyed sight before continuing “This is none of your business, leave it alone.” she glared at him and the sight made his heart sink for a different reason. He really could not understand why she was so instant on being so cold towards him. All he ever wanted from her was friendship.

“I’m sorry Miss Kringle but I consider you one of my only friends here and seeing a friend hurt makes it my business”

“I’m not your friend!”

Ed let out a sad sigh as she said that, of course, she would say that. Just like everyone else around here she thought he was weird. He would just have to prove to her that he was her friend, and one thing friends did was stand up for each other. He stormed out of the records room abruptly, she made no effort to follow him. He made a beeline for Tom who was off laughing on the stairs by the bullpen with a few of the other officers.

“Tom, I need to speak to you about Miss Kringle! I saw the bruises and you have no right to hurt her like that!” he growled at the man, only for Tom and the others to laugh at him. 

“You can not treat her like that!” Edward growled as they continued to laugh at him. 

“Have you ever been with a woman Riddleman?” he clucked his tongue at Edward and continued before giving him a chance to answer “Women like Kringle, they have a mouth on them and sometimes you have to give them a good slap so they know their place.” he took Ed’s silent glare as shock before continuing. “You know I heard a rumour Riddleman that you use to follow her around like a lost puppy, are you hot for my girl maybe?”

He was baiting Edward to say or do something, to lose his cool and do something and Edward did do something but it was not what anyone standing present had expected. He laughed at Tom, but it was not a joyful laugh. It was a dark foreboding chuckle that many of those present found downright creepy, he then stopped and took a deep calming breath before answering Tom.

“Not that it is your or anyone else in this precincts business, but no I have not ever ‘been’ with a woman as you say and I probably never will be.” he answered in a bored tone that got a few chuckles from the officers including Tom “But, neither myself nor my boyfriend for that matter would ever, under any circumstances, put our hands on each other in anger for the purpose of causing harm to the other, because we respect each other as equals you neanderthal! So no I am not after your girl and I never have been or ever will be. I have been nice to her because she is one of the only people in this hell hole of a workplace who I can actually have an intelligent conversation with, unlike the rest of the idiots around here!” he turned away from the group of stunned men and made his way back to his office, satisfied that he had finally stood up to these immature idiots he has to work with or at least that is how he felt until Tom had to have the final comment.

“Gee, big surprise the little freak is a fag” he laughed at Ed, but this time it hurt so much more than every other time he had made fun of Ed because of that damn word, and sure enough the other officers were laughing along with him. Ed chose to and tried not to react to it until he was alone in his office. Only then did he let the painful tears begin to flow. Memories flooded his mind. 

Memories of his high school days when his bullies found out and teased him about being gay and the more painful ones of his father finding out and beating the crap out of him, calling him that horrible word, throwing him out of his childhood home and telling him to never come there again. He had come so far since those days. He was a stronger man now, but that one word brought back all those painful times. 

There was a reason why he had never been completely open about his personal life at work, with how hyper-masculine everyone was around here he knew it would not go down well if the truth about him came out so to speak. But in standing up for his only friend in this place, he had outed himself very publicly in front of everyone. He had just made things so much worse for himself, they would bully him even more now, he just knew it. Why did he do something so stupid? He was not a stupid person. He could feel himself panicking and hyperventilating as he continued crying sitting at his desk. He just needed to hear his voice to calm himself down.

With trembling fingers, he reached for his phone in his pocket and went through the contacts until he reached V, which was very quick because other than Victor there was only three other numbers in his phone not including work. As he pressed the dial button for the number he tried to stifle his tears by wiping his eyes. He knew that as soon as he called Victor would know something was wrong, but he just really needed to hear him.

“Hey is everything ok babe? You never call me from work?” he answered right away and as usual he knew right away when something was wrong with him, he could not help the sob that escaped his lips, he tried so hard to hold it in but hearing Victor’s voice just let the floodgates open and he began crying again.

“Vic, I messed up... I messed up big time.” he cried into the phone.

“Woah Woah, calm down what’s wrong what happened?” came the calm soothing tone from the other end of the phone.

“I stood up to Tom…” he whimpered into the phone, it should have been a moment to be proud of after all he had been meaning to stand up to the bastard for a while now, just not like this.

“Bout time babe… you don’t need me to come clean up do you?” of course Victor would assume he had finally cracked and killed someone at work. Truth be told they had both joked on more than one occasion that Ed would one day snap and go on a killing spree within the GCPD. Victor knew he loved his job, but he also knew how much he hated the people there especially Tom Daughtery. More often than not as of late when they got the chance to see each other the first half-hour of their time would be Ed venting about the latest crap his co-workers had put him through and Victor sitting there calmly listening and hugging him close.

“No, nothing like that ...yet. Oh, I was so tempted to though Vic…” Ed explained how he had walked in on Tom and Kristen talking earlier and how at first he was embarrassed but then while talking to Kristen he had noticed bruises on her arms, bruises that looked like handprints. 

“He's hurting her isn’t he?” growled Victor. He was one of the most dangerous hitmen in Gotham but even he had standard when it came to treating people. Men who abused women or children were high on that list and he also felt the same about women who abused others as well for that matter. 

“Yeah, she even said it was her fault for making him mad” Ed then let out a sad sigh which was echoed by Victor on the other end of the phone.

“What did you do Ed?”

“I confronted him in the bullpen in front of everyone with the intention of calling him out on his behaviour towards her, but then he started asking me if I had ever been with a woman and then that women like Kristen need a firm hand. Then on top of all that he accused me of trying to steal his woman! Like she was his piece of property! God, why does everyone around her think I am after her romantically?” Ed let an annoyed huff.

“Well do you talk to anyone else there?” there was a slightly teasing tone to Victor’s voice, he was obviously trying to lighten the mood and cheer Ed up, sadly it was not working and just made him feel more frustrated with everyone’s assumptions about him.

“I was dating you before she even started working here, and we started going steady a month after she started. Victor I took that idiot’s bait, I yelled at him in front of everyone that I was not after his girl and that I never would be because I'm…” Ed cut himself off as he started crying.

“Shit, you outed yourself, no one there knew did they?” Victor’s voice got serious again, once again filled with concern and worry for Ed

“No, I didn’t want to give them something else to bully me about…” there was a heavy silence on the line before Victor asked the next question.

“Did those bastard’s say anything about it?” growled Victor 

Ed did not want to answer the question as he continued to cry, but it was obvious to Victor in the change in his sobbing that someone had said something.

“Ed, tell me what he said, please?”

“I don’t want to Vic, you will get angry”

“He hurt you, Ed, I’m already mad.”

“Tom said as I was leaving ‘Gee big surprise, the little freak is a fag’” Ed whispered between sobs, he felt so dirty saying that word himself. 

As soon as he uttered that horrible word Ed heard several loud crashing noises on the other end of the phone. Victor was pissed, he knew he would be.

“This ends today Ed! I’m coming there to see you ok? There are currently no warrants out for my arrest and I will even leave my weapons here! I am coming there and you are not going to change my mind you hear me?”

Ed could not help but smile at how protective Victor was of him. Since everyone there already knew he was in a relationship with another man, maybe having that man show up at work could work in his favour, seeing as it was someone many of his bullies were scared of.

“Can you bring me a green smoothie?” he smiled into the phone.

“Whatever you want, see you in half an hour babe.” 

“See you soon Vic” Ed smiled as he hung up the phone. 

“Is Vic your boyfriend’s name?” asked a calm voice from behind him, “I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I saw what happened with Tom and I wanted to make sure you were ok.” standing in the door to Ed’s lab was Dr Lee Thompkins. 

“It’s nothing I have not had to deal with before around here.” He did not mean to sound so bitter towards her, but if she was only checking up on him out of pity, then he did not want to talk to her. Ed took his glasses off to clean them as well as wipe his eyes.

“That makes it even worse Ed” now there was pity in her voice and he could not help but flinch at that. The last thing he wanted was his co-workers feeling sorry for him. He had enough pride in himself to not want anyone’s pity.

“His name is Victor, he said he will be here in half an hour. He wants to make sure I’m ok.” smiled Ed

“Aww, Ed that’s really sweet of him” smiled Lee as she gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. The tender moment was interrupted by a knock on the door, standing there was Kristen.

“Ed, I owe you an apology” she mumbled from the doorway eyes on the floor “I should not have made assumptions about you and I am really sorry about that.”

“Perhaps I should apologise as well then Miss Kringle. If I ever gave the impression that I was interested in you in that way, I really am sorry. I never meant to come across that way and if I ever made you feel uncomfortable in any of our encounters I am truly sorry” he smiled at her hoping his word came across as genuine.

“Ed was just telling me about his boyfriend, Victor” smiled Lee trying to break the awkward silence that had filled the room after the two apologies.

“Oh? What’s he like Ed? How did you two meet? That is if you don’t mind me asking?” added Kristen giving him the first genuine smile he had seen from her aimed at him, other than their first introduction to each other when she started working at the GCPD.

Ed could not help the shy smile that filled his face as he remembered the night he met Victor at one of the few gay bars in Gotham, it had been karaoke night and the moment Victor had taken the stage Edward had been in awe at the magnificent confident man before him.

“It was karaoke night at the only club in town I frequent, a usually quiet hole in the wall place. I had found it the week I started working here. The moment he got on stage everyone in the place was watching him. He has this presence and confidence that has everyone stares at him, you just cannot help but be drawn in by his charisma.” Ed let out a slight chuckle before continuing. “So many other patrons had sung a lot of more modern pop songs, but not Victor. He loves disco music and he was singing Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnite) and he was just so brilliant, everyone was cheering for him and singing along by the end. He could have had anyone in the club after that performance and yet he came and sat next to me. I must have been staring the whole time we ended up talking for almost two hours after that. A week later there was another karaoke night and I decided to get up on stage”

Both women gasped at that, Edward Nygma was so shy at work they could not picture him up on stage.

“Don’t look at me like that! You don’t think I act as I do here outside of work, do you? Anyway when Victor and I had been talking the week before he told me ‘You get up on stage babe and I’ll go out on a date with you’. Seeing as he had sung Abba the week before I decided to do the same. I chose Money Money Money. By the end of the performance, Victor was standing on top of one of the booth tables cheering and whistling. The rest, as they say, is history.”

“Aww Ed, that is sweet!” smiled Kristen “I hope we get to meet him sometime, he sounds like a really nice guy”

“You won’t have to wait, he's on his way. I kind of had to call after what happened. I hope he does not cause too much trouble when he gets here…”

Things suddenly got very silent outside of Ed’s lab, all the hustle and bustle of the GCPD had gone dead silent and Ed could not help but smile, he had arrived a little early it seemed, it had only been just over fifteen minutes. 

“I think he just arrived, excuse me” smiled Ed as he got up and left both women following close behind him.

Victor Zsasz is the kind of man that everyone in Gotham knows who he is and what he does so when a known criminal walks right into the GCPD dressed completely casually in a pair of tight jeans, a simple black button-up shirt, motorcycle boots and a pair of sunglasses everyone in the room takes notice. It is to be expected and he knows it. It is what he is hoping for on this occasion especially. He is very protective of those he cares about and right now he was beyond pissed off because someone in this room has hurt the person in this city he cares about

He places the green smoothie and it’s tray on the nearest desk as he walks in and slowly removes his sunglasses and glances around the silent room as everyone in the room stops and stares at him, a few offices even reach for their guns and this just makes him smile.

“Lower your weapons everyone, I’m unarmed.” a small lie, he does have a small pocket knife in his back pocket, an anniversary present from Ed a few months ago, but they do not need to know that.

“I’m not here on business. I’m actually here on a personal matter. I’m here to visit my boyfriend, who I hear quite often that you guys don’t treat all that well. Especially one Tom Dougherty.”

A few whispers can be heard throughout the precinct, most of the reactions were of shock and the small group of officers who were previously talking with Tom before Victor’s arrival quickly step back from the man. Victor stares Tom down from across the room and the man gulps and fidgets under his harsh gaze. Victor’s smile is predatory as he stares down at Tom like he is a piece of meat on display, then his smile softens slightly as he hears footsteps approaching from a corridor out the back.

“I’m not here to cause anyone trouble. I just got a phone call from my very distraught partner and have come to help him. I don’t want anything to do with anyone else here kay?” he does not take his eyes off of Tom during the entire speech. 

Soon enough Ed comes out from outback and makes his way out into the bullpen and he smiles the moment his eyes fall on Victor. The man’s presence has made everyone else there uncomfortable but not Ed. For him, it is a comforting presence and he smiles even brighter when he realizes that in this moment they all feel as uncomfortable as they all make him feel on a daily basis. It is beyond cathartic after the day he has had and he can not help but run across the room and into Victor’s arms as the other man pulls him into a reassuring hug. At that moment all he wants to do is kiss Victor, in front of all these assholes. So he does without a care in the world because he knows that after this moment none of them will ever tease or bully them again. 

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry I am still working on my other works, I just needed a break from working on Last to Know and this idea popped in my head. I have been wanting to write something for this pairing for a while and I am so happy with how this fic turned out!


End file.
